


Of Memories Of Pigtails

by Scotty1609



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers Friendship, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes's Little Sister, Childhood Memories, Domestic Avengers, Flashbacks, Implied Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes - Freeform, Kid Bucky Barnes, Kid Fic, Kid Steve Rogers, Little Sisters, Original Child Character(s) - Freeform, Post-Avengers (2012), Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve Roger's Psuedo Little Sister, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark Friendship, Steve Rogers Feels, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, Steve Rogers-centric, Tony Stark Has A Heart, original child character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-26 16:06:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18182756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scotty1609/pseuds/Scotty1609
Summary: "Buck's baby sister. She was- what- three? Four?” Steve shook his head. “Anyways. I mostly babysat Becca for Buck's ma. So she was sittin' there, right? In my lap. And she was pretending to read to me. She had memorized the picture book- it was one I had copied from the library and drawn the images for her- and was tellin' me the story.”Or else, the Avengers have a game night and Steve gets more than he bargained for when he divulges a sensitive memory.





	Of Memories Of Pigtails

**Author's Note:**

> And because I apparently caN'T FUCKING STOP WRITING flUFF, have this P.O.S. that I wrote in like an hour because I was feeling goopy.
> 
> Once again, this isn't edited. I'll probably go back and try to fix it this weekend. I was just desperate to share!! :)

“-And then, the next _morning_ if you could believe it, Tones woke up and said 'I'm the bloody fucking Queen of England' and then started puking up a blue slushie.”

Clint started choking on his popcorn as Sam, sitting next to him, cackled and patted Rhodey on the back. Tony was scowling, mouthing what Steve could only assume to be curses towards his best friend. Natasha patted Tony's back in a faux consolation. Bruce looked red in the face as he tried to keep from laughing himself, while Thor went the opposite route and belted out one of the loudest laughs Steve had ever heard.

Steve could only shake his head and sigh, though a fond smile was working its way over his lips, as he reached over to refill his pint. Thor had brought some kind of potent mead that was making his head feel a little fuzzy, helping him relax further into the plush couch in the Avenger's Tower living room.

“Alright, alright, _alright_ ,” Tony waved a hand in the air as though trying to fan away the laughter. “Now that I've been thoroughly betrayed-”

“It _was_ kinda funny,” Bruce admitted shyly, smiling up at Tony.

“Et tu, Bruce?!” Tony smacked a hand to his forehead dramatically, and Steve couldn't help but roll his eyes. “As I was _saying_ -” Tony shifting to make himself more comfortable on the arm of the couch, “-who's turn is it now? Maybe one of the Wonder Twins? Bird-brain?”

“I already _had_ my turn,” Clint objected. “Let Nat draw.”

“Not on your _life_ , Barton.”

“C'mon,” Sam cajoled the woman sitting across from him. “Everybody's gotta go sometime. That's the rules of the game!”

Natasha looked at Sam with such a menacing glare that Steve thought the poor man would drop dead, so he quickly sat up straight and reached for the bowl sitting on the coffee table. “I'll go,” he said as he dug around the folded paper pieces, feeling for just the right one.

“Umm, any day now, Capsicle,” Tony jeered, taking another sip of whiskey. “Preferably _before_ the rapture.”

Clint cocked an eyebrow. “I thought you were an atheist.”

“Agnostic,” Tony corrected, “and that's neither here nor there. God, hurry _up_ , Rogers!”

Steve huffed out a laugh at Tony's impatience, his fingers finally coming in contact with a piece of paper that had a small tear in it. _Good enough_. Drawing the slip, Steve unfolded it and read it, molding over the single word for a minute.

_PIGTAILS,_ it read in a simple scrawl.

“Pigtails...” Steve read out, confused. “Pigtails...”

After several moments of silence, Tony belted out, “ _Well_??”

“Give him a second, Stark,” Sam admonished. “Just because we don't all have a photographic memory like you-”

“Eidetic.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Eidetic memory, what _ever_ -”

Steve jutted in before a fight could break out. “I've got one,” he said, sipping at his mead and relishing in the way his chest warmed at the drink. He didn't know why he felt so relaxed- be it the soft cushions beneath him, or the presence of his team, or the alcohol (though it was probably mostly the alcohol)- but the story was rolling off his lips before he could stop to think about it.

“I was- what, maybe fifteen?”

“So this was in the Stone Age,” Clint nodded, “got it- _ouch_ , Nat!”

“Don't interrupt,” she scolded, turning back to Steve.

Steve pushed down his smug smile and began again. “I must have been about thirteen, because I remember living at Buck's house. He was downstairs, doing chores, and I was upstairs with Becca.”

“Becca?” someone asked, and Steve nodded, taking another sip.

“Yea. Buck's baby sister. She was- what- three? Four?” He shook his head. “Anyways. I was sick as a kid- _really_ sick- so I couldn't work at the docks or do too many house chores like Buck could, so I mostly babysat Becca for Buck's ma. So she was sittin' there, right? In my lap. And she was pretending to read to me. She had memorized the picture book- it was one I had copied from the library and drawn the images for her- and was tellin' me the story.”

Steve didn't notice how Natasha's eyes softened, or how Tony shifted in his seat.

“And she said to me- she said, 'Stevie?' And I replied, 'Becks?' And she was suddenly demanding that I braid her hair for her.” Steve snorted. “I'd never braided _anyone's_ hair before, so I asked her if I could give her pigtails instead.” The memory grew stronger in his mind- Becca's tangled, dark hair, and light blue eyes- so reminiscent of her big brother- and Steve's heart lurched a bit. He took another sip of his mead to calm himself, trying not to meet anyone's eyes. “Long story short, I somehow managed to break the handle of her brush _and_ nearly sprain my wrist. God, I remember her goin' downstairs, all dancing around and happy, and showed off her pigtails to Buck. They were uneven and frizzy, and I had barely been able to tie them up because of my freakin' wrist, but she was so- so- _happy_.”

Steve smiled to himself as he looked down into his mead. The gold color reminded him of the ribbon Bucky had given to Becca, insisting that if Steve was good enough at hair to do her pigtails, then he could give her a big bow, too.

“God, she was precious.” Nobody commented on the slight crackle that Steve's voice had taken on. “We- we saw her off to boarding school a few years later. Hell, I think Buck cried more than she did. And when their Ma passed away, Buck dropped out of school and started working full-time. I sold newspapers on the street to give us a little more money for some extra bread. When Beck was maybe ten, Buck and I realized that we didn't have enough cash to keep sending her to school, so she started hemming dresses for the ladies 'round town.” Steve sighed. “It was... hard. But it was the happiest I ever remember being.”

Setting down the piece of paper in their discard pile, Steve looked up and saw everyone staring at him. Sam and Clint looked close to tears, and Natasha was practically melting into her seat. Tony had his arms crossed, seeming uncomfortable, and Bruce and Rhodey were watching Steve with a cautious appreciation. Steve flushed all the way up to his ears, shifting in his seat. And then, Thor interrupted the awkward silence with a loud, “What a beautiful story, Captain! It reminds me of the time my brother and I sneaked into Lady Sif's quarters and tied her hair up to her bedpost!”

“That's terrible,” Rhodey said as he crinkled his nose up. “Truly terrible.”

“Would you expect more from Reindeer Games?” Tony chuckled.

“No,” Rhodey said, “But I'd expect more from the Lord of Thunder.”

Thor shot Rhodey an unimpressed look. “Um, _God_ of Thunder.”

Everyone laughed, and Steve sighed in relief at the diffusion of tension. Everyone's eyes were now on Thor as the man went about waving his arms in the air, telling the tale of how he and Loki had to run away from the young Lady Sif's wrath, escaping to the Bifrost and hiding behind Heimdall. Steve pretended not to notice the glance that Tony sent him, merely shifting forward onto his knees to listen to Thor's tale more attentively.

It was a good memory- doing Becca's hair and attempting (rather poorly) to give her a bow. She had run down to the kitchen, giggling all the while, and skipped around Bucky until her brother stopped his chores and started dancing with her. Steve joined them not moments later, and he and Bucky began tickling and teasing Becca until the little girl was squealing with happiness.

_If it's a good memory, then why does it **hurt** so much?_

Steve shook off the thoughts.

He would unpack all of that later.

…

A few days later, Tony appeared on Steve's floor.

“Rogers.”

Steve wasn't surprised by Tony's voice- he had heard the other man's footsteps as he stepped out of the elevator- but he was a bit confused. He glanced at the clock, noticing that it was almost three- prime time for Tony to be in his lab.

“Stark?” Steve didn't try to hide the questioning air of his voice. “Why are you-”

“I've been thinking,” Tony said as he came to lean against the couch Steve was sitting on, his back to the soldier.

“A dangerous occupation for you.”

Tony brushed off the tease, which was enough to pique Steve's interest. Tony was doing something on a Starkpad, the fingers of his right hand moving rapidly as he looked down at it.

“I've been thinking-” he repeated, “-about that story you told us. The one about Barnes's little sister.”

Steve tensed a bit. “And...?”

“I did some digging into SHIELD files,” Tony said, sounding like a child who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and was astonishingly _proud_ of himself. “I didn't find anything at first, so I went through Margaret Carter's personal files, and I found a match.” Tony pressed a button on the side of the Starkpad, and a hologram appeared above it. Steve's breath hitched a bit when he saw familiar dark brown hair and light blue eyes looking at him.

It was Becca. She was older- maybe in her thirties- and she was _smiling_.

Tony continued on, “She worked as a editorial writer- impressive for when she lived- before moving on to live a more _domestic_ kind of life. Had a whole husband and three ornery kids. Two sons and a daughter.” Tony pulled up three more images, this time children. The two boys had blue eyes and blonde hair, shockingly reminding Steve of himself, but the girl had that trademarked Barnes hair- dark, wild curls that framed her face perfectly. “Those kids had kids, and the most recent generation...” Tony actually turned to face Steve then, and he pulled up one more image. “...still lives in Brooklyn.”

The little girl on the screen couldn't have been more than six. She had kinky curls and dark skin, her eyes a bright hazel. “Meet Aida Proctor, great-great grandchild of Rebecca Barnes. And the great-great niece of a one James Buchanan Barnes.”

Steve's breath was clogged in his throat. Part of him was angry with Tony- angry that he had drudged up the past, angry that he had hacked into Peggy's personal files, and angry that he had invaded the Barnes' family life.

But another part of Steve- the stronger part, the one that remembered the way Becca would grin up at him and tug on his pants, beg him to draw pictures of her and take her to the park; the part that remembered the way Bucky was gaze after them fondly when they played hopscotch; the part that grieved over the nights that they all had to go hungry because Bucky was sick and couldn't work, or because Steve had gotten himself injured again in a back-alley fight and couldn't go to the store- _that_ part of Steve ached. It ached to see this child- Becca's great-great granddaughter, _Bucky's great-great grandniece_ \- and watch her grow. God, if he could just- just- just _see her_ , in _person_ , then maybe...

Maybe the part of him that grieved could finally, _finally_ , be at peace.

“Where...?” Steve started, reaching a shaking hand towards the hologram's childish face. “You said- Brooklyn? After all this time?” Questions filtered through Steve's mind unbidden, and he was suddenly rushing out: “How old is she? Are her parents alive? Is _Becca_ still alive? Is she in school? What grade? Does she-”

“Woah, woah, woah-” Tony chuckled, holding up a hand. “Calm down, Captain Eager.” Steve blushed. “I can get in contact with her parents for you- who _wouldn't_ want their kid to meet Captain America?”

Steve was suddenly nervous. “I... I dunno, Tony. It's been- _God_ , it's been decades- and what if... what if they don't _want_ to remember? What if- what if they don't want...” _What if they don't want_ _ **me**_ _?_

Tony hummed, looking back down at the case files. “This says that Aida and her mother- Kimberley- visit Becca at the All Saint's Old Folk's Home every other Sunday. Something tells me that they _won't_ be upset if you show up.” Tony pressed another button, and suddenly the little girl's face was gone, and Steve was just reaching for air. _Just reaching for memories._ “I already took the liberty of contacting the old folk's home- you're _welcome_ \- and they said that Becca is still mentally coherent and accepting visitors. I also hacked their visitor's list- again, _you're welcome_ \- and it says that Aida and her mom didn't visit last Sunday, so chances are they'll be there this weekend.”

Steve hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until Tony's next words formed, wrenching it from his lips.

“I asked to speak with Becca. I told her about you. She wants to see you.”

“She wants... to see- see _me_?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Of _course_ she wants to see you. From the way you talk about her, she had you wrapped around her little finger.”

“She's Buck's sister,” Steve objected. “Not mine.”

“' _The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.'_ ” Tony dutifully quoted. “But whatever- you've got a whole week to think about it. So...” Tony stood up and tucked the Starkpad under his arm. He pulled a piece of paper- a business card- from his back pocket and handed it to Steve. “That's the home's number. You can set up an appointment whenever- they have visiting hours every day- just in case you don't want to see the kid or whatever. I don't care, really. It's up to you.”

“If you don't care, then why'd you seek them out?”

Tony paused from where he had been walking towards the elevator, not daring to look over his shoulder. Steve could hear him fine anyways. “...I know what it's like,” Tony finally decided on. “To not have a family, I mean. Not to wake up in an entirely new century, but the point's the point.” He sighed, shaking his head. “What I _mean_ to say, Cap, is that... you don't have to go it alone.”

Steve watched as Tony entered the elevator, his eyes meeting Tony's for the briefest of moments before the doors closed. “Neither do you,” he murmured.

…

It took more than a week for Steve to decide. He waited dutifully for the following two weeks to go by, and then set up an appointment to visit Becca.

Baseball hat on his head and sunglasses perched on his nose, Steve walked into the old folk's home with purpose. He signed in, forcing away any negative thoughts that threatened to beat him down and make him scurry away to lick his metaphorical wounds, and allowed the nurse to lead him to Becca's room.

Steve faltered only once, only for a single moment, as he entered the doorway. But then, he saw them.

Becca was lying back in bed, and the woman that Steve could only assume to be Kimberley was brushing her thin white hair. Light filtered in through the blinds, illuminating their faces and making the room practically glow. And there, sitting smack dab between Becca's knees, was the tiny child Tony had shown Steve just a few weeks ago. Aida was reading a storybook aloud, adding on her own little footnotes as she spoke to her mother and great-great grandmother about Little Red Riding Hood and the Big, Bad Wolf.

“Knock-knock!” the nurse who had been leading Steve towards the room spoke in a chipper voice. “Miss Proctor, you have another guest!”

The women and girl turned to look at Steve, seemingly not recognizing him at first. And then Steve took off his hat and sunglasses, and watched the magic as Aida's and Becca's faces lit up. They had the same smile. It was ridiculous to think, knowing how many generations apart they were, but it was there plain as day: the tilt of their lips, the dimples in either cheek, the way the smile reached all the way up to their eyes.

“Steve...?” Becca began, her voice crackling with emotion and age. She reached out a shaking hand, beckoning him forward. “My God... Stevie? Is that you?”

“ _No_ , Gramma!” Aida objected as she scampered off the bed and scrambled over to where Steve was standing in the doorway. Steve took note of her light-up sneakers and Iron Man t-shirt, unable to hide his smile. Aida reached up and took his hand immediately, completely unafraid as she stared at him with childish wonder. “That's _Captain America_!”

And Steve smiled.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I know very little about the Marvel Universe beyond the MCU, so I researched a little bit about the Barnes's family tree. Becca and Kimberley are real characters, but Aida is of my own imagination. I don't know if Becca, Bucky, and Steve ever lived together, but this is my new headcanon that I've developed over the years since I found out that Bucky had a little sister.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this one-off!!
> 
> And yes, Steve goes on to visit Becca until the day she passes away painlessly in her sleep, and also takes Aida to baseball games and the park and spoils her with ice-cream and goes to her choir concerts and attends her elementary school graduation beCAUSE I SAID SO.
> 
> (And whatever you do, DONT think about Bucky coming back to NY and researching into his past to find out that he has living relatives, and DONT think about Bucky and Steve taking Aida to Avenger's Tower to show her off and proclaim that they are "the bestest great-great grand uncles EVER", and doNT THINK ABOUT BUCKY AND STEVE HANDING AIDA OFF DOWN THE AISLE WHEN SHE GETS MARRIED BECAUSE THEY LOVE HER SO MUCH AND SHE'S THEIR BABY GIRL AND *sobs*)


End file.
